System and method for tracking and rating non-gaming activities

ABSTRACT

A system and method for tracking patron events at a plurality of devices is provided. The plurality of devices include electronic gaming machines and non-gaming machines. Each game device has a value associated therewith. The system includes a plurality of player tracking devices (each associated with one of the electronic gaming machines) and a server. The player tracking devices identify patrons interacting with the system, track wagers made by the patrons on the electronic gaming machines and record wager data. The server receives the wager data and stores the wager data in a database and receives transaction data associated with a transaction associated with the patrons use of the non-gaming devices and stores the transaction data in the database, and establishes a player rating associated with each player as a function of the wager data and the transaction data.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/826,991, filed on Mar. 14, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/426,059 filed on Apr. 17, 2009, now U.S.Pat. No. 8,425,310, issued Apr. 23, 2013, which claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/046,046, filed Apr. 18,2008, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to casino management systems,and more particularly, to a casino management system which tracks thenon-gaming activities of patrons, stores data related thereto, andestablishes a rating related to the relative worth of the patrons as afunction thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The growth and competition in the casino gaming market in recent yearsand the increasingly sophisticated and complex technology beingintegrated into the gaming environment, presents both challenges andopportunities to gaming establishment operators. Over recent years,casino revenue has dramatically increased in the area of non-gamingrevenue sources such as, hotel and hospitality, retail, dining,entertainment and other casino products or services. Traditionally,patron tracking systems have focused on tracking patrons of electronicgaming machines, table games and other gaming revenue areas such as,bingo and keno. In this traditional scenario, a patron is identifiedduring gaming play by a patron tracking ID card and/or a patronidentification number (PIN). The patron tracking system tracks thepatron's gaming play and may award patron tracking points, bonuses, andother incentives according to established criteria to promote continuedpatron loyalty.

In most cases, the patron tracking points earned by play electronicgaming machines, table games and other gaming revenue areas such as,bingo and keno may be redeemed for prizes, such as complimentary meals,merchandise, hotel and services through non-gaming revenuepoint-of-sales devices linked to the patron tracking system. In thesecases, non-gaming casino revenue patron tracking has been limited to theredemption of points and prizes earned by tracking the patron's play atgaming revenue sources. U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,961 teaches a method wherebypatron tracking points are redeemed at a redemption counter in thecasino for meals or clothing. The patron tracking points, therefore, arean additional inducement to encourage gaming revenue source play. U.S.Pat. No. 7,303,475 further extends this method whereby patrons canredeem their patron tracking points for non-gaming revenue products andservices and can earn patron tracking point based on products orservices purchases at remote redemption centers.

As non-gaming revenue increases, methods are needed to track and recordthe patron's purchases (spend). Further more, methods are needed toestablish the profitability of patron's purchases and to rank and scorethe patron's net worth in the area of non-gaming revenue purchases.Moreover, there is an emerging category of casino patrons who are notmembers of the traditional casino patron club of electronic gamingmachines, tables games or other gaming revenue sources, yet spend largeamount of money in non-gaming revenue areas. Traditional patron trackingsystems do not track, rate or score this category of patron.

Some casinos utilize an entirely separate system which may be used tostore, independently, both player tracking data and other informationrelated to the casino resort patron. The other information may be relateto the patron's transactions or visit, or originate at, the hotel,restaurant(s), retail outlet(s), spa(s), etc. . . . . There are severalproblems with this approach. First, a completely different andadditional system is used to receive the player tracking data (from thecasino management system or CMS) and the other data and to store it.Secondly, such external systems must be tailored specifically to workwith the CMS and other systems, such that the data from these systems isunderstood. In other words, the data from these systems is typicallymaintained in different formats and must be translated in order to beunderstood and stored. This is a very laborious and expensiveundertaking. Furthermore, it is also difficult and expensive tomaintain. For instance, if one of the underlying system changes, thenthe additional external system may also require corresponding updates.

The present invention is aimed at one or more of the problem as setforth above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect of the present invention, a method is established foridentifying a patron who purchases products or services such as, hoteland hospitality, retail, dining, entertainment and/or other non-gamingrevenue source related to the casino enterprise whether located locallyor remote to the casino property. This method may incorporate the patronpresenting a patron tracking ID card, providing a phone number, using acredit card associated with the patron's account or any other means ofidentifying the patron.

In a second aspect of the present invention, a method is established fordetermining the profitability (rating) patron's purchase. This methodincorporates a technique of evaluating the casino's profit margin on theproduct and/or service and storing this profit evaluation in the patrontracking system. For example, a patron may purchase a spa package at acertain amount, however, the cost of the spa package is known to casino,and therefore at a minimum the patrons purchase price (rating buy-in),value or pre-discounted price (rating actual buy-in), cost of theproduct or service (rating walk-with) and casino profitability (ratingnet profit) are recorded in addition to the date and time of thepurchase.

In a third aspect of the present invention, a method is established fordetermining the category and/or score of patron (ranking) of the patronbased on their historical spend and as compared with all othernon-gaming revenue patrons.

In a fourth aspect of the present invention, a method is established forusing the patron rating and ranking information to establish a systemfor rewarding the patron with complementary patron tracking points,complementary products and services or a combination thereof.

In a fifth aspect of the present invention, a method is established forevaluating the patrons overall net worth to the gaming operator.

In a sixth aspect of the present invention, a method is established forusing overall ranking method for rewarding a patron.

In a seventh aspect of the present invention, a system for trackingpatron events at a plurality of devices is provided. The plurality ofdevices include electronic gaming machines and non-gaming machines. Eachgame device has a value associated therewith. The value associated withthe electronic gaming machines is a theoretical hold of the respectiveelectronic gaming machine. The value associated with the non-gamingmachines is an estimated profit of the respective non-gaming machine.The system includes a plurality of player tracking devices and a serveror computer. Each player tracking device is associated with one of theelectronic gaming machines. The player tracking devices identify patronsinteracting with the system, track wagers made by the patrons on theelectronic gaming machines and record wager data associated with eachwager made by the players and a respective electronic gaming machine ina database. The wager data includes a device type associated withrespective gaming machine, an electronic gaming machine identifier, thetheoretical hold percentage associated with the respective gamingmachine, and an amount of the respective wager. The server is incommunication with the player tracking devices and the non-gamingmachines for receiving the wager data associated with the one of thepatrons and the respective gaming machine from the player trackingdevice and storing the wager data in a database and, for receivingtransaction data associated with a transaction associated with thepatrons use of the non-gaming devices and storing the transaction datain the database, and for establishing a player rating associated witheach player as a function of the wager data and the transaction data.

In an eighth aspect of the present invention, a method for trackingpatron events at a plurality of devices, the plurality of devicesincluding electronic gaming machines and non-gaming machines. Each gamedevice has a value associated therewith. The value associated with theelectronic gaming machines is a theoretical hold of the respectiveelectronic gaming machine. The value associated with the non-gamingmachines is an estimated profit of the respective non-gaming machine.The method includes the steps of identifying patrons interacting withthe gaming machines and tracking wagers made by the patrons on theelectronic gaming machines, and recording wager data associated witheach wager made by the patrons and a respective electronic gamingmachine. The wager data includes a device type associated with therespective gaming machine, an electronic gaming machine identifier, thetheoretical hold percentage associated with the respective gamingmachine, and an amount of the respective wager. The method also includesthe steps of receiving the wager data associated with the one of thepatrons and the respective gaming machine and storing the wager data ina database, receiving transaction data associated with a transactionassociated with the patrons use of the non-gaming devices and storingthe transaction data in the database, and establishing a player ratingassociated with each player as a function of the wager data and thetransaction data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated asthe same becomes better understood by reference to the followingdetailed description when considered in connection with the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is block diagram of a system for tracking gaming and non-gamingactivities of a patron at a resort, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a gaming machine for use with the system ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a second block diagram of the system of FIG. 1; and,

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for tracking non-gaming activitiesof a patron at a resort, according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

Referring to the Figures, wherein like numerals indicate like orcorresponding parts throughout the several views, a system 10 fortracking patron events at a plurality of devices 12. In one aspect ofthe present invention the devices 12 may be gaming machines 12A-12H, 12Ior non-gaming machines 12J, 12K,12L. In one aspect of the presentinvention, the system 10 and method receive information related to theplayer(s)' and/or patron(s)' use of the devices 12 and establish aplayer rating based thereon. The player rating may be a single numberwhich reflects a value reflective of the player or patron's relative“worth” to a casino or resort. In one aspect of the present invention,the patron's relative worth may be first established with respect to aplurality of predetermined criteria.

In one embodiment, the predetermined criteria include recency, i.e., howrecent has the player or patron used a device 12 or visited the casinoor resort, frequency (of visits), monetary value, and profit margin (seebelow).

In one embodiment, data is gathered regarding the patrons' use of thedevices 12 (gaming and non-gaming) and, for a given time period, eachpatron is scored relative to all other patrons for each criteria. Thescores, for example, may be established as percentiles. For example,assuming that there are 100 patrons, if one of the patrons frequentedthe resort more then all other patrons during the past month, thatpatron would be in the 99^(th) percentile.

For each patron, their percentile score is established for eachcriterion. The percentile scores are then combined to establish a singlevalue using a predetermined weighting scheme. For example, the singlevalue may be established using:(A*R)+(B*F)+(C*M)+(D*P),where A, B, C, & D are first, second, third and fourth weighting factorsand R, F, M & P are the patron's percentile scores for recency,frequency, monetary value, and profit margin.

Generally, the weighting factors are set by the casino and may bechanged. Sample weighting factors are 15%, 15%, 30%, and 40%,respectively.

The single value may be established for different time periods. Forexample, in one embodiment, the single value may be established for thelast month, the last three months, the last 12 months, and lifetime. Thesingle values may be combined, for example, by averaging, to establish atotal value.

Any of the single values or the total value may be utilized by thecasino for a myriad of purposes (see below).

In one embodiment, the system 10 and method may be embodied orimplemented via an entertaining management and monitoring system 14which is shown in block diagram form in FIG. 1. The entertainment andmonitoring system 14 may include additional functions such as, real-timemulti-site, slot accounting, player tracking, cage credit and vault,sports book data collection, Point of Sale (POS) accounting, kenoaccounting, bingo accounting, and table game accounting, a wide areaprogressive jackpot, and electronic funds transfer (EFT).

As shown, the system 10 includes a plurality of devices 12. Devices 12may include, but are not limited to gaming machines, electronic gamingmachines (such as video slot, video poker machines, or video arcadegames), electric gaming machines, virtual gaming machines, e.g., foronline gaming, an interface to a table management system (not shown) fortable games, kiosks 25, point of sale or redemption terminals 23, orother suitable devices at which a patron may interact or access a useror player account. In the illustrated embodiment, eight electronicgaming devices or machines (EGM) 12A-12H are shown. However, it shouldbe noted that the present invention is not limited to any number or typeof machines 12. In one embodiment, the machines 12 are organized intobanks (not shown), each bank containing a plurality of machines 12.

Other types of gaming machines which may be included (see above) areindicated with reference number 12I.

The devices 12 are connected via a network 16 to one or more hostcomputers or servers 18, which are generally located at a remote orcentral location. The computer 18 includes a computer programapplication 20 which maintains one or more databases 22. In oneembodiment, the database(s) are Oracle database(s).

The computer program application 20 and databases 22 may be used torecord, track, and report accounting information regarding the gamingmachines 12 and players of the gaming machines 12. Additionally, thecomputer program application 20 and database(s) 22 may be used tomaintain information related to player or player tracking accounts (seebelow).

In general, the machines 12 may be used by a user or player, i.e., toaccess their player account. For example, a gaming machine 12C isplayable by a player 24. The player 24 may select one of the gamingmachines 12C to play and insert a coin, credit, coupon, and/or playertracking card (not shown) into the chosen EGM 12C. Generally, the gamingmachines 12C have an associated number of credits or coins required inorder to play. In the case of video slot or poker games, the game isplayed and an award in the form of credits may be awarded based on a paytable of the gaming machine 12.

With reference to FIG. 2, a block diagram of a suitable electronicgaming machine 12C is shown.

The machine 12C comprises a game controller 26, or central processingunit (CPU), a coin-bill management device 28, a display processor 30, aRAM 32 as a memory device and a ROM 34 (generally provided as an EPROM).The CPU 26 is mainly composed of a microprocessor unit and performsvarious calculations and motion control necessary for the progress ofthe game. The coin-bill management device 28 detects the insertion of acoin or a bill and performs a necessary process for managing the coinand the bill. The display processor 30 interprets commands issued fromthe CPU 26 and displays desirable images on a display 36. The RAM 32temporarily stores programs and data necessary for the progress of thegame, and the ROM 34 stores, in advance, programs and data forcontrolling basic operation of the machine 12C, such as the bootingoperation thereof, game code and graphics.

Input to the gaming device 12C may be accomplished via mechanicalswitches or buttons or via a touchscreen interface (not shown). Suchgaming machines 12 are well known in the art and are therefore notfurther discussed.

The player 24 is identified via the player tracking card and/or a playeridentification number entered into player tracking device 38 at each EGM12 (see below). Player tracking accounts may be used, generally, toprovide bonuses to a player, in addition to the award designated by, inthe case of a video slot or poker machine, the EGM's 12 paytable. Thesebonuses may be awarded to the player 24 based a set of criteria,including, but not limited to, a) the player's play on the machine 12C,b) the player's overall play, c) play during a predetermined period oftime, and d) the player's birthday or anniversary, or e) any otherdefinable criteria. Additionally, bonuses may be awarded on a randombasis, i.e., to a randomly chosen player or randomly chosen game 12.Bonuses may also be awarded in a discretionary manner or based on othercriteria, such as, purchases made at a gift shop or other affiliatedlocation.

In one embodiment, the player tracking device 38 includes a processor40, a player identification card reader 42 and/or a numeric keypad 44,and a display 46. In one embodiment, the display 46 is a touchscreenpanel and the numeric keypad 44 is implemented thereon.

The player 24 may be identified by entry of a player tracking card intothe player identification card reader 42 and/or entry of a playeridentification number (PIN) on the numeric key pad 46. The play trackingdevice 38 may also be used to communicate information between thecomputer 18 and the corresponding EGM 12C. The player tracking device 40may also be used to track bonus points, i.e., incentive points orcredits, downloaded from the computer 18.

Each device 12 has a value associated therewith. With respect to thegaming machines 12A-12I, the value is a theoretical hold percentage. Thetheoretical hold percentage may be defined as the casino orestablishment's estimated, average revenue percentage. For example, ifthe gaming machine 12 is a slot machine, the hold percentage is theexpect house's estimate, average take or revenue for a particularmachine. For a non-gaming device 12, e.g., a point of sale terminal,such as a cash register, a restaurant, or a spa, the theoretical holdpercentage may be set to an estimated profit percentage for the givendevice 12.

In one aspect of the present invention, each player tracking device 12is associated with one of the electronic gaming machines 12A-12I. Theplayer tracking devices 12 identify patrons interacting with the system12, for track wagers made by the players on the electronic gamingmachines 12A-12I and record wager data associated with each wager madeby the player and a respective electronic gaming machine 12A-12I. In oneembodiment, the wager data includes a device type associated withrespective gaming machine, an electronic gaming machine identifier, thetheoretical hold percentage associated with the respective gamingmachine, and an amount of the respective wager. The wager data may alsoinclude a player ID and a date/time stamp.

The computer or server 18 is in communication with the player trackingdevices 38 and the non-gaming machines 12J, 12K, 12L for receiving thewager data associated with the patrons and the respective gaming machine12A-12I from the player tracking device 38 and storing the wager data ina database and, for receiving transaction data associated with atransaction associated with the patrons' use of the non-gaming devices12J, 12K, 12L and storing the transaction data in the database. Thecomputer also establishes a player rating associated with each player asa function of the wager data and the transaction data.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the transaction dataincludes a device type of the non-gaming machine 12J, 12K, 12L, anidentifier of the non-gaming machine, and the estimated profit of thenon-gaming machine. The transaction data may also include a patron IDand a date/time stamp.

In one embodiment, the wager data and the transaction data are stored ina table in the database. In another embodiment, the wager data is storedin a first table in the database and the transaction data is stored in asecond table in the database.

In one embodiment, the server 18, in establishing the player rating,performs the following steps:

(a) establishes a first percentile ranking for each patron relative tothe other patrons as a function of the wager and transaction data for afirst predetermined time period in each of a plurality of criteria,

(b) establishes a first valuation number as a function of the percentilerankings in each of the plurality of criteria and a plurality ofpredetermined weighting factors,

(c) establishes a second percentile ranking for each patron relative tothe other patrons as a function of the wager and transaction data for asecond predetermined time period in each of the plurality of criteria,and

(d) establishes a second valuation number as a function of thepercentile rankings in each of the plurality of criteria and theplurality of predetermined weighting factors.

As discussed above, the server 18 may combines the first and secondvaluation numbers into an overall valuation number. Furthermore, thesystem 10 may establish additional valuation numbers for different timeperiods, for example, the previous month, the previous three months, theprevious year, and lifetime, i.e., all available data.

In one embodiment, the criteria includes recency, frequency, monetaryvalue, and profit margin. Recency refers to the most recent or lastvisit to the resort by the player as determined by the last use of oneof the devices 12. Frequency refers to the number of visits or uses bythe player or patron's use of the devices. The monetary value is theamount spent and wagered by the player/patron during the time period.The profit margin is a value determined by multiplying the amountwagered or spent multiplied by the theoretical win or the estimateprofit percentage of the gaming machine 12A-12I or non-gaming machine12J, 12K, 12L. This determined for each wager and transaction and thenadded together.

In one embodiment, the wager data and the transaction data are stored ina single table in the database or in separate tables. However in oneembodiment, even if the data is stored in two different tables, thefields of the table are the same. It should be noted that each wager andeach transaction is stored as a separate record.

The fields of the table(s) are listed below for an exemplary table whichis used for both gaming and non-gaming machines 12.

RATINGID: Unique identifier for a patron rating.

PCALCID: Unique system generated numeric identifier for a pointcalculation formula

PTNID: Unique system generated numeric identifier for a patron

CARDID: Unique system generated numeric identifier for a patron card

DEVTYPID: Device Category such as, Gaming Device, Table, Hotel, Spa,Point of Sale, or other interfaced third party system

DEVID: Unique numeric identifier for a device (individual gaming device,Table, Hotel, gift shop, buffet, etc (individual profit center)

GAMEID: Subcategory of the device such as the individual game, type oftable, terminal or item of the Gaming Device, Table, Hotel, Spa, Pointof Sale or other interfaced third party system

GAMETHEHOLDPCT: Margin percentage of the subcategory

STATUS: Unique numeric identifier for a patron status Used as same

THEOWIN: Estimated Profit (customer spend*margin percentage)

DATETIMEIN: Starting date and time of wager/transaction

DATETIMEOUT: Ending date and time of wager/transaction

TOTBUYIN: Total amount of buy in for wager machines 12A-12I; Customerspend for transaction for non-gaming machines 12J-12L

GSTID: Unique system generated numeric identifier for a game site

SHIFTID: Unique system generated numeric identifier for a casino shift

YYYYINSERTED: The four digit year the record was created on

MMINSERTED: The month the record was created on

DDINSERTED: The day of the month the record was created on

DATEINSERTED: The gaming days date that this transaction or eventoccurred

LASTMODDATE: Timestamp of last modification

LASTMODBY: Login name of person who last modified this record

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

In a typical casino management system, the table in the database wouldhouse gaming ratings. In the present invention, the system stores pointof sale transactions related to point redemption and/or earnings. Thepresent invention allows the use of this existing table to handle the“rating” of non-gaming activity. In short, this is done by utilizing theexisting interface for point of sale/hotel to capture spend, multiply itby the terminal's margin, and store the estimated profit in the existingtheoretical win column. This way, all activity (gaming and non-gaming)can be captured and stored without the need for a separate datawarehouse or repository or an extract method to migrate data.

Once the player/patron rating values are determined, the casino may usethe data for various marketing or player comp purposes. These couldinclude, but are not limited to:

1. Analysis of an individual patron over time

2. Analysis of a group over time (using average score of the group)

3. Comparative analysis of one group/individual against another [overtime or for a specific period]

4. Resolution dispute, updating internal business protocols using thescore to determine the nature of the resolution

5. Patron hosting and VIP analysis—to use worth score to determine whoshould qualify to be a VIP and/or hosted. That analysis could beperformed in period report or as a “real-time” on the floor discovery ofactive patrons currently playing machines

6. To create better segmentation models, using worth as a criteriaelement. This could replace or enhance existing methodologies that mayonly use traditional metrics such as theoretical win, average dailytheoretical, or coin in/turnover

7. To better determine reinvestment activities based on worth. By way ofexample, if a property provided parking discounts based on lifetime orperiodic worth, the property could use the score as a matrix todetermine percentage discount (e.g. everyone with a score above 90 forthe period gets 100% discount, 75-89 score gets 50% discount, etc.)

8. Reinvestment, as denoted above, may have had to do with the amount ofthe reward. It can also be the timing of the reward. For example, if thepatron's score is increasing, possibly invest less monies and with lessfrequency due to human nature dictating that this person is in an“upswing”. If the patron's score is decreasing, the inverse is true andthe business/property would examine the impact of increasing the amountand/or frequency of certain reinvestment strategies to re-capture thatpatron's activity potential

9. As an additional factor in determining the issuance of markers andcredit limits

10. To evaluate scores as a relationship of market area

11. To determine if an individual player development manager or host hasgreater impact than another peer in increasing and/or retaining agreater overall score for the patron's assigned to that individual

12. To analyze score in relationship to seasonality, business growth(e.g. new verticals such as hotel or general expansion), competitorinfluence, shift, and any other internal or external factor that couldcontribute to a shift in the number of patrons within a given scoringrange.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present inventionare possible in light of the above teachings. The invention may bepracticed otherwise than as specifically described within the scope ofthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for use in tracking activitiesassociated with a plurality of patrons at a plurality of devices,comprising: a gaming device for allowing the plurality of patrons tomake wagers and responsively displaying a game; a non-gaming device forallowing the plurality of patrons to initiate a plurality of purchasetransactions; a database including a plurality of player trackingaccounts, each one of the player tracking accounts being associated withat least one patron; and a server computer in communication with thegaming device, the non-gaming device, and the database, the servercomputer for receiving a signal indicative of a purchase transactionbeing initiated on the non-gaming device, for receiving a signalindicative of a wager being made at the gaming device, for identifying aplayer tracking account associated with the purchase transaction and thewager, the server computer for determining a profit margin associatedwith the purchase transaction, determining a first player rating as afunction of the purchase transaction profit margin, determining a secondplayer rating as a function of the wager, and generating a single playerrating associated with the identified player tracking account determinedas a function of the first player rating and the second player rating.2. A system in accordance with claim 1, the server computer fordetermining a player rating associated with each one of the plurality ofplayer tracking accounts and for determining the single player ratingassociated with the identified player tracking account, including apercentile ranking of the identified player tracking account withrespect to each player rating associated with each one of the pluralityof player tracking accounts.
 3. A system in accordance with claim 1, theserver computer for determining an estimated profit percentageassociated with the non-gaming device and for determining the purchasetransaction profit margin as a function of the non-gaming deviceestimated profit percentage.
 4. A system in accordance with claim 1, theserver computer for determining a product/service associated with thepurchase transactions, for determining the profitability associated withthe corresponding product/service, and for determining the purchasetransaction profit margin as a function of the correspondingproduct/service profitability.
 5. A system in accordance with claim 1,wherein each one of the purchase transactions includes a correspondingpurchase amount, the server computer for determining a monetary valueassociated with the identified player tracking account as a function ofeach purchase transaction amount initiated within a predefined period oftime and for determining the first player rating as a function of thedetermined monetary value.
 6. A system in accordance with claim 1, theserver computer for determining a patron frequency score as a functionof a number of purchase transactions associated with the identifiedplayer tracking account within a predefined period of time and fordetermining the first player rating as a function of the patronfrequency score.
 7. A system in accordance with claim 1, the servercomputer for determining a patron recency score as a function of a timeelapsed between the initiated purchase transaction and a previouspurchase transaction associated with the identified player trackingaccount and for determining the first player rating as a function of thepatron recency score.
 8. A system in accordance with claim 1, furthercomprising a player tracking device in communication with at least oneof the non-gaming device and the gaming device, the player trackingdevice for receiving information associated with the identified playertracking account and transmitting a signal indicative of the playertracking account with the purchase transaction.
 9. A system for use intracking activities associated with a plurality of patrons at aplurality of devices, comprising: a gaming device for allowing theplurality of patrons to make wagers and responsively displaying a game;a non-gaming device for allowing the plurality of patrons to initiate aplurality of purchase transactions; a database including a plurality ofplayer tracking accounts, each one of the player tracking accounts beingassociated with at least one patron; and a server computer incommunication with the gaming device, the non-gaming device, and thedatabase, the server computer for receiving a signal indicative of apurchase transaction being initiated on the non-gaming device, forreceiving a signal indicative of a wager being made at the gamingdevice, for identifying a player tracking account associated with thepurchase transaction and the wager, the server computer for determininga first player rating as a function of the purchase transaction,determining a profit margin associated with the wager as a function ofan amount of the wager and a theoretical win of the gaming device,determining a second player rating as a function of the wager profitmargin, and generating a single player rating associated with theidentified player tracking account determined as a function of the firstplayer rating and the second player rating.
 10. A method of monitoringtransactions associated with a plurality of patrons at a plurality ofdevices including a gaming device and a non-gaming device, comprisingthe steps of: receiving, by a server computer from the non-gamingdevice, transaction data indicative of a purchase transaction beinginitiated on the non-gaming device; receiving, from the gaming device, asignal indicative of a wager being made at the gaming device;identifying a player tracking account associated with the purchasetransaction and the wager; determining a profit margin associated withthe purchase transaction; determining a first player rating as afunction of the purchase transaction profit margin; determining a secondplayer rating as a function of the wager; and generating a single playerrating associated with the identified player tracking account determinedas a function of the first player rating and the second player rating.11. A method in accordance with claim 10, further comprising the stepsof: determining a player rating associated with each one of a pluralityof player tracking accounts; and determining the single player ratingassociated with the identified player tracking account including apercentile ranking of the identified player tracking account withrespect to each player rating associated with each one of the pluralityof player tracking accounts.
 12. A method in accordance with claim 10,further comprising the steps of: determining an estimated profitpercentage associated with the non-gaming device; determining thepurchase transaction profit margin as a function of the non-gamingdevice estimated profit percentage.
 13. A method in accordance withclaim 10, further comprising the steps of: determining a product/serviceassociated with the purchase transactions; determining the profitabilityassociated with the corresponding product/service; and determining thepurchase transaction profit margin as a function of the correspondingproduct/service profitability.
 14. A method in accordance with claim 10,further comprising the steps of: receiving signals indicative of aplurality of purchase transactions associated with the identified playertracking account, each one of the plurality of purchase transactionsincluding a corresponding purchase amount; determining a monetary valueassociated with the identified player tracking account as a function ofeach purchase transaction amount initiated within a predefined period oftime; and determining the first player rating as a function of thedetermined monetary value.
 15. A method in accordance with claim 10,further comprising the steps of: determining a patron frequency score asa function of a number of purchase transactions associated with theidentified player tracking account within a predefined period of time;and determining the first player rating as a function of the patronfrequency score.
 16. A method in accordance with claim 10, furthercomprising the steps of: determining a patron recency score as afunction of a time elapsed between the initiated purchase transactionand a previous purchase transaction associated with the identifiedplayer tracking account; and determining the first player rating as afunction of the patron recency score.
 17. A method in accordance withclaim 10, wherein a player tracking device is in communication with atleast one of the non-gaming device and the gaming device, the methodfurther comprising the steps of: receiving information associated withthe identified player tracking account from the player tracking device;and identifying the identified player tracking account based on thereceived information.
 18. A method of monitoring transactions associatedwith a plurality of patrons at a plurality of devices including a gamingdevice and a non-gaming device, comprising the steps of: receiving, by aserver computer from the non-gaming device, transaction data indicativeof a purchase transaction being initiated on the non-gaming device;receiving, from the gaming device, a signal indicative of a wager beingmade at the gaming device; identifying a player tracking accountassociated with the purchase transaction and the wager; determining afirst player rating as a function of the purchase transaction;determining a profit margin associated with the wager as a function ofan amount of the wager and a theoretical win of the gaming device;determining a second player rating as a function of the wager profitmargin; and generating a single player rating associated with theidentified player tracking account determined as a function of the firstplayer rating and the second player rating.